Making Candles

In History the girls are studying early America Colonial Times.  They have been enjoying learning about the very first days of our country.  They especially enjoyed learning how the women contributed to the early colonies.  One of their contributions was candles.  Of course, that lead us to last weeks activity - candle making!!!  We started out making them the "old fashioned" way - dipping the wicks in melted wax.  They soon learned this method took a very long time.  Anyone who knows my children, will understand why this method DID NOT work for us!!!

 Yes,  occasionally some of us stay in our P.Js all day!!!

 Making progess!

We're getting there.

Looking pretty good.  This is as far as anyone got.  We all got tired of standing there dipping, drying, dipping, drying,dipping, drying,........  Well, you get the picture.  We then stopped for a few minutes to talk about how easy our lives are compared to the Colonial Americans.  They decided they were glad they were born in the 21st century!!!

So,  after some thought, we came up with a quicker idea for candles!!  We poured them into mugs to make pillar candles. Once they dried,  we held the mug down in some hot water, then easily pulled out the candles.

   Here's the oldest girl holding her pillar candle.

Another great school day at Mullenax Homeschool Academy!! 

Visit us again to see what else we get in to!!!

Autumn Leaves Lapbook

Here at Mullenax Homeschool Academy,  we enjoy getting away from the "normal" schooling every once in a while.  That doesn't mean we aren't learning!  We are just using different methods than the textbook, quizzes, and tests.  

One of our favorite alternative methods is lapbooking.  Since my kiddos are hands on learners, this is a great method. They are also easy to take with you if you are traveling, rather packing up big, bulky textbooks.  I try to place them in the lesson plans when I know we will be out of town.  

This fall,  we got to work on an Autumn Leaves lapbook.  You can find it here. 

Here are a few pics of the finished project.

Currently we are working on a 25 Days of Giving Thanks lapbook.  Lapbooking through the holidays keeps us learning, gives us a break from the normal daily routine, and lets us have more fun while still schooling.  More fun days to come.  Keep checking back to see what's happening. 

Fall Fun

I love fall.  It is my favorite time of year and there are so many things to do.  I don't even have time to go into all the crafts you can find for this season.  I found a couple cute and easy things at Target for the little girl to work on while we did some big kid school.  

I got a couple for the older girls too.  

We also had a great time decorating, though I don't count it as school work.  It is a lot of fun for the girls mostly.  Here is our front porch after we were finished. 

Since we live in the south,  it's also our favorite time of year to be outside.  It can get quite hot in the summer, but the beginning of fall is perfect weather!!!  Here are a couple shots of some of our Physical Education hours.  

 Boys playing a little soccer.

 They all get together and play baseball.

 I took this picture at one of the boys football games.  Aren't those clouds beautiful?

 A little bit of fun at the park

 My little Abby having fun on the slides.  She and little brother raced down the two sides a couple times. 

I couldn't seem to catch her playing.  She's just too fast!!  So I made her stand still for a minute - she was not happy about it.  

We're having a fun year!!  Check back to see what other fun things we are learning and doing here at Mullenax School Days!!!

ROAD TRIP

One of the MANY benefits of home schooling is that you aren't limited to a single place and time!  I can pack up our books and not miss a beat!

We are originally from West Virginia and both of our families still live there.  It's a good 7.5 hour drive from here in the south.  We have always tried to visit often, because hubby and I both had the privilege of growing up close to our grandparents.  We wanted that relationship for our children, as much as possible.  That means we pack up every couple of months or so and head north to Grandma and Papaw's house.  Fortunately, my dad just lives about 35 minutes from them!!!

This past weekend, the boys didn't have a football game and I didn't have to work.  You know what that means?  ROAD TRIP!!! It's hard to get anywhere in the fall with football going strong!!  I packed up the school work with our luggage and off we went!!

Here are a couple pics of the good times at Grandma's!!  We did our school work, helped Grandma do some seasonal work to get ready for the cold weather, and we also had a lot of fun!  Which, of course, is what you're suppose to do at Grandma's!!

 Some scenes from the van.  So thankful for our passenger van.  I don't know if all those kiddos would arrive anywhere in one piece and without tears if they had to sit closer together for the entire trip.  Let's not forget about Mommy's sanity as well.  

A little fun time outside after carrying lawn furniture to the storage building.  The kids played some dodge ball for PE.  Hubby  knocked some leaves off of the trees and the kids tried to catch them.  Those are just a couple of the memories I captured on my phone.  

We also did a fall birthdays party.  That includes Mini-Me, who turned 5 in September, and Mr Gamer who will be 14 this month!!  They are growing up way too fast.

Such cuties, though I think they've had enough pictures snapped for now!!

Check back to get a peak at their Autumn Leaves lap book the girls put together.  

We're having a great school year so far.  

Jello Cell Model

One of the first projects we completed in science was our jello cell model.  The girls loved this one.  Not only was it educational,  it was edible, something we like to do very much around here!!

In the unit, the girls were learning about cells and what they are made of.  As they put the model together,  they had to explain what each item represented in the cell and what function they have in the cell.  My kiddos always remember things better with some hands-on learning.

Here's a few pics of the fun:

I tried to catch them eating the M&Ms and gummy worms, but they are sneaky little boogers. 

The kiddos had fun doing a school project and I had fun watching and grading.  Home schooling is the BEST!!!

Art - Indian Dwellings

We have been studying Native Americans in our History curriculum. We have been learning where different Indian tribes were located in North America and what kind of dwellings they lived in.  For art this past week, they each picked what type of dwelling they wanted to study further and try to create a scaled down model.  Once again,  they did pretty well.

The beginning stages of Anna's Longhouse with a bit of help from Noah.  I think he misses the activities the younger ones get to do.

Mandi putting some artistic touches on her tee-pee.

A close up of Mandi's artwork.

The artists' with their completed Indian dwellings.  I think they are getting another A in Art.  

Good job girls!

So far this school year has been very fun!  Visit us again to see what we have been doing in Science.  It's been educational and edible.  

Football Days

How many times, as a homeschooler, have I heard - "How do you socialize them?"

I can't even tell you.

My answer right now:

Football, Football, Football!!

Our two oldest boys play on our local homeschool co-op football team.

Last year, the girls were able to be cheerleaders.  Unfortunately, this year, they were unable to have a cheer team.  However, the girls still hang out and play with their friends while their brothers are practicing and playing.

Hubby and I updated our camcorder this year, so I taped their last game.  Here are a couple highlights for you to enjoy and us to remember.  Just like in a yearbook!!

William #50 and Noah #4 work together to get a tackle. 

William #50 recovers a fumble!!  Whoot-Whoot!!

So far, they have played 4 games:

away vs Anderson - L

away vs Shannon Forrest - L

away vs Rabun Gap - W

home vs PAC Panthers - W

The team motto is "It pays to be a winner." So, as well as getting some social time in with other kids their age,  they are also learning some life lessons!

#1 You can't always win!!  

#2 Always play your best!

#3 It's not if you lose, it's how you react to the loss.

Memories in the making!!!!!

GO CANES!!!!! 

ART - Week 1

The girls have been studying Native Americans in their History lessons.  They have thoroughly enjoyed learning about their way of life.  One of the things they found most interesting was how they hand made most everything, right down to the bags they carried.  This brought us to art class.

We decided to make a handmade "pretend" buckskin bag.  I loaded up the kiddos and headed off to Hobby Lobby, one of my all-time FAVORITE stores.  We headed straight to the fabric section in search of something that would resemble buckskin.  The very helpful lady pointed us in a direction of a kit that had most everything we needed already cut and ready to assemble.  I love it when things are simple!! I purchased some fabric paint and beads to decorate with and we were set.

The girls had to sew the two sides together using a rather large, dull needle and a rather thick leather string.  I think it was much too thick to classify as thread!!

 Mini-Me did her very best,  but needed a bit of help with this part. 

 Princess 1 was able to get hers completed without any assistance (except for Tigger kitty), though she had a couple problems she had to fix.

 Princess 2 was more independent than not, but did require some assistance.

Once they were sewn together, they had to put the leather thong cinch handles, bead decorations, and paint decorations on. 

 

The girls did the bead work and painting all by themselves.  

I think they did a pretty good job.

I give them all A's!!

Keep checking back to see what other projects we get into this year.  I think it's going to be a great year.

Let the 2013 - 2014 School Year Begin!!

Let me introduce you to Mullenax Homeschool Academy.  This is our seventh year homeschooling. I attempted to blog our last school year, which was an epic fail,  but I am determined to get this year documented in pictures and posted.  This year I have 5 actual students, a 2 year old distraction, and about 4 cats that think they have to be in the center of everything.

Let's start with the students:

           Mr Helper is a freshman this year.  How did he get to be in high school already??  He is a history guy, loves anything related to history!!  He is also a BIG football fan.  Fortunately, last year we were able to find a homeschool team he could play on.  They did pretty well last year, getting to the championship game and ending up second in their league.  We'll see how this year goes; I'm not as hopeful. 

          Mr. Gamer is in 8th grade.  He is my science student.  He would take the entire science book and read through it if he had time.  Unfortunately, I throw in all those OTHER subjects.  He also likes to play football and while he didn't get as much playing time last year,  he was on the same team as his brother.  This year, he's looking to be on the field a lot more!!

          Princess 1 is in 6th grade.  Again,  where does the time go?  She was in K-5 when we started this homeschool journey.  She is definitely my mini-me, right down to the attitude!!  She is really good at organizing, when she wants to be.  I just wish she would do as well with her school books and supplies!!

          Princess 2 is in 4th grade.  She is my sweet, sensitive, and loving girl.  She simply wants to make everyone happy and has very high expectations of herself, which sometimes leads to some emotional turmoil in the classroom.

         Mini-Me is in K-4.  This is her first "official" year of school, though she has been in the center of our classroom all of her life!!  

          Baby Samuel isn't an official student,  but he is a very real distraction at times.  He is the baby of the family and very use to having as much attention as he wants.  

          Last, but not least, are Roxy's kittens.  Roxy is a kitten we rescued last year and ended up having 3 kittens in Baby Samuel's bed one night.  They are all VERY spoiled and enjoy laying down right on top of any paper we are trying to work on.  

How are they comfortable?

Join us as we study, laugh, and sometimes cry our way through this school year.  My goal is to make at least one post per week.  Hopefully,  I can get the older ones involved in creating posts as well.  Check back to see what is going on at the Mullenax Homeschool Academy!!!